We were scared to death when the fire _____. Fortunately, it was put out before it caused much damage.

A. broke out   　    B. came out  　       C. gave out    　     D. turned out

 

The report came to the British on May 21, 1941. The German battleship Bismarck, the most powerful warship in the world, was moving out into the Atlantic Ocean. Her task: to destroy the ships carrying supplies from the United States to war-torn England.

The British had feared such a task. No warship they had could match the Bismarck in speed or in firepower. The Bismarck had eight 15-inch guns and 81 smaller guns. She could move at 30 nautical miles(海里) an hour, she was believed to be unsinkable.

However, the British had to sink her. They sent out a task force headed by their best battleship Hood to hunt down the Bismarck. On May 24, the Hood found the Bismarck. It was a meeting that the German commander Luetjens did not want to see. His orders were to destroy the British ships that were carrying supplies, but to stay away from a fight with British warships.

The battle didn’t last long. The Bismarck’s first torpedo(鱼雷)hit the Hood, which went down taking all but three of her 1,419 men with her. But in the fight, the Bismarck was slightly damaged （损坏）. Her commander decided to run for repairs to France, which had at that time been taken by the Germans. The British force followed her. However, because of the Bismarck’s speed and the heavy fog, they lost sight of her.

For two days, every British ship in the Atlantic tried to find the Bismarck, but with no success. Finally, she was sighted by a plane from Ireland. Trying to slow the Bismarck down so that their ships could catch up with her, the British fired at her from the air. The Bismarck was hit. On the morning of May 27, the last battle was fought. Four British ships fired on the Bismarck. And she was finally sunk.

1.The Bismarck sailed into the Atlantic Ocean ______.

A. to sink the Hood                     B. to gain control of France

C. to cut off American supplies to Britain      D. to stop British warships reaching Germany

2.Many people believed that the Bismarck could not be defeated because she ______.

A. was fast and powerful                    B. had more men on board

C. was under Luetjens' command              D. had bigger guns than other ships

3.We learn from the text that on 24 May______.

A. the British won the battle against the Bismarck

B.the Bismarck won the battle against the British

C. the British gunfire damaged the Bismarch seriously

D. the Bismarck succeeded in keeping away from the British

4.Which of the following is the immediate cause of the sinking of the Bismarck?

A. The British air strikes.             　　B. The damage done by the Hood.

C. Gunfire from the British warships.       D. Luetjen's decision to run for France

 

 

There was one thought that air pollution affected only the area immediately around large cities with factories and heavy automobile traffic. At present, we realize that although these are the areas with the worst air pollution, the problem is literally worldwide. On several occasions over the past decade, a heavy cloud of air pollution has covered the east of the United States and brought health warnings in rural areas away from any major concentration of manufacturing and automobile traffic. In fact, the very climate of the entire earth may be infected by air pollution. Some scientists consider that the increasing concentration of carbon dioxide in the air resulting from the burning of fossil fuels (coal and oil) is creating a “greenhouse effect”— conserving heat reflected from the earth and raising the world’s average temperature. If this view is correct and the world’s temperature is raised only a few degrees, much of the polar ice cap will melt and cities such as New York, Boston, Miami, and New Orleans will be in water.

Another view, less widely held, is that increasing particular matter in the atmosphere is blocking sunlight and lowering the earth’s temperature — a result that would be equally disastrous. A drop of just a few degrees could create something close to a new ice age, and would make agriculture difficult or impossible in many of our top farming areas. Today we do not know for sure that either of these conditions will happen (though one recent government report drafted by experts in the field concluded that the greenhouse effect is very possible). Perhaps, if we are lucky enough, the two tendencies will offset each other and the world’s temperature will stay about the same as it is now. Driven by economic profits, people neglect the damage on our environment caused by the “advanced civilization”. Maybe the air pollution is the price the human beings have to pay for their development. But is it really worthwhile?

46. As pointed out at the beginning of the passage, people used to think that air pollution _______.

　A. cause widespread damage in the countryside

　B. affected the entire eastern half of the United States

　C. had damaged effect on health

　D. existed merely in urban and industries areas

47. As to the greenhouse effect, the author __________.

　A. share the same view with the scientist.

　B. is uncertain of its occurrence

　C. rejects it as being ungrounded

　D. thinks that it will destroy the world soon

48. The word “offset” in the second paragraph could be replaced by _________.

　A. slip into   B. make up for　　 C. set up    D. catch up with

49. It can be concluded that ____________.

　A. raising the world’s temperature only a few degrees would not do much harm to life on earth

　B. lowering the world’s temperature merely a few degrees would lead major farming areas to disaster 

　C. almost no temperature variations have occurred over the past decade

　D. the world’s temperature will remain constant in the years to come

50. This passage is primarily about __________.

　A. the greenhouse effect        　    B. the burning of fossil fuels

　C. the potential effect of air pollution  　D. the likelihood of a new ice age

 

Geena David knew she wanted to be a movie star when she was very young. She was not sure what gave her the idea, but she wanted to look like a movie star. “I have a lot of pictures from my childhood of me wearing sunglasses,” she says. “I used to wear them to watch TV.”
　 Early movie actors started wearing sunglasses not because they looked good, but because their eyes hurt. The lights used on movie sets were extremely bright and could cause a painful problem known as “Klieg eyes”. It was named after the Klieg brothers who invented the lights. Actors wore sunglasses to give their eyes a rest. But when movie stars began wearing their sunglasses in public, they quickly became a must.
　 Eventually actors started wearing sunglasses in their movies as well as on the street. Audrey Hephburn wore ultra-cool Ray-Ban sunglasses in the 1961 movie, Breakfast at Tiffany’s. As a result, Ray-Ban sunglasses started to appear more and more in the movies. In 1979, Ray-Ban “Wayfarers” were worn by Jake and Elwood in The Blue Brothers. Tom Cruise wore Ray-Ban “Aviator” sunglasses in the 1986 hit, Top Gun. Then in 1997, Will Smith and Tommy Lee Jones made Ray-Ban “Predator” sunglasses famous in Men in Black.
　  Of course sunglasses aren’t just a fashion statement. The main reason to wear sunglasses is to protect our eyes against UV radiation. UV radiation can damage our eyes, so people now choose their sunglasses carefully. But you don’t have to give up style for safety. The choice of frames and lenses available these days is huge. So you can protect your eyes and still be the coolest person on the beach.
【小题1】What is mainly discussed in this passage?

A．The use of sunglasses.	B．The history of sunglasses.
C．The sunglasses wearing.	D．Why movie stars like to wear sunglasses.

【小题2】Why did Geena David like to wear sunglasses?

A．She was a movie star.

B．She wanted to follow a movie star.

C．Wearing sunglasses was good to her eyes.

D．It was good to wear sunglasses when watching TV.

【小题3】Early actors’ eyes hurt because ______.

A．they wore sunglasses

B．they went out in the sun too much

C．the lights on movie sets were too bright

D．their scripts were written in very small writing

【小题4】Now people wear sunglasses ______.

A．just to protect their eyes	B．for fashion and to protect their eyes
C．because of bright lights	D．because movie stars wear them

Chocolate is good for your heart, skin and brain．Usually, people think that chocolate is bad for their health．They describe chocolate as“something to die for”or say“death by chocolate”．Now they should bite their tongues! Evidence is showing that some kinds of chocolate are actually good for you in the following ways:

A happier heart

Scientists at Harvard University recently examined 136 studies on cocoa—the main ingredient in chocolate and found that it does seem to strengthen the heart．Studies have shown heart benefits from increased blood flow．These benefits are the result of coca’s chemicals, which seem to prevent both cell damage and inflammation（炎症）．

Better blood pressure

If yours is high, chocolate may help．Jeffrey Blumberg from Tufts University recently found that people with high blood pressure who ate 3．5 ounces of dark chocolate per day for two weeks saw their blood pressure drop quickly．

Muscle magic

Chocolate milk may help you recover after a hard workout（锻炼）．In a small study at Indiana University, people who drank chocolate milk between workouts did better on a tiredness test than those who had some sports drinks．

Better for your skin．German researchers gave 24 women a half-cup of special cocoa every day．After three months, the women’s skin was moister（滑润的）and smoother．The research shows that chocolate helps protect and increase blood flow to the skin, improving its appearance．

Brain gains

It sounds almost too good to be true, but research suggests that chocolate may improve your memory, attention span, reaction time, and problem-solving by increasing blood flow to the brain．

52. What’s the meaning of “bite their tongues”in the first paragraph?

A. Stop talking．          B. Speak up．              C. Think of it．            DvListen to it

53. What’s the meaning of the underlined sentence in the fourth paragraph?

A. Sports drinks are better than chocolate milk．

B. Sports drinks can make people easy to be tired．

C. Drinking milk can keep you energetic at work．

D. We should drink chocolate milk between times when we work hard．

54. The conclusion that chocolate may help lower blood pressure was made by_________．

A. scientists at Harvard University

B. Jeffrey Blumberg from Tufts University

C. scientists at Indiana University

D. German researchers

55. What’s the best title for this passage?

A. Chocolate, a Healthy Food                           　　B. More Chocolate, Less Health

C. Chocolate and Blood Pressure                        D. Advice on Eating Chocolate